3Below One-Shots
by LizzyLucky
Summary: Aja got up this morning feeling a little groggy. Progressively feeling worse throughout the day, she's found looking so tired in math class that she and Krel are sent home to deal with what they now know to be a common cold. Aja's feeling miserable and useless, and Krel is working his darnedest to be of help- turns out he's quite gentle and sweet. (This is the newest chapter!)
1. On His Shoulder

I couldn't help myself! I'm LizzyLucky, the same writer who did "Faultless" (about Krel being hurt after the final available episode) and "3Below - Book of Drabbles", which still needs more requests! But, on that note, I kept getting requests I really wanted to write more than 100 words for, and I've picked up enough tricks to think that I could be better at one shots than I was before the book of drabbles, so I'm making a One-shots collection for 3Below!

True to my word, I'm starting it off with a request I got from **ElementalKeys** about Krel being followed by a duckling on his way home, and then he just kinda falls in love with it. It already has a drabble in my other book (which I would totally recommend you check out) but I could do it more justice here.

I JUST COULDN'T RESIST.

Thanks, you guys!

-LizzyLucky

* * *

Krel had decided he needed some fresh air. School had been rough on him that day- he just felt lonely too easily amongst people who didn't seem to care whether he was there or not. Yeah, that was what he and his sister were aiming for- they were supposed to be 'invisible', but now that they understood enough of Earth's customs, being passed by just kind of… 'sucked'.

Anyway, Aja had been yapping about her boyfriend and Krel decided it might be nice to take a walk. Seeing as it was pretty close to midnight, he didn't bother to restore his human form. He just went in his own form, four arms and all.

After walking for maybe 20 minutes, which seemed to be enough to clear his head, he decided it was time to head back home. Aja would probably pout at him for leaving her alone, and Vex would likely reprimand him for leaving in his Akiridion form, but he didn't care. He hadn't been spotted by anyone, and Aja could manage being separated from her brother for a half an hour, he was sure. There wasn't anything he needed protection from tonight, at least.

As he walked along the dirt path, he heard a rustling behind him. Maybe he _had_ been spotted…

Whipping around, serrator at the ready, he saw… nothing. There was nothing there. He chuckled quietly to himself and began to turn around when he spotted something very small on the ground- it looked like a miniature yellow duck.

"Why are you so small?" He wondered aloud when it occurred to him that the other species indigenous to this planet probably had to grow from infancy as well. "A duckling." He concluded.

He knelt down to look at it, the small thing staring up at him as well. He was fascinated by how it appeared to have tiny yellow feathers- or something of the sort- sticking out in every direction. Was this a defense mechanism? Did it make it look bigger to predators?

Krel cut his thoughts short as the duckling chose, completely out of the blue, to charge at him, head on. He leapt back to his feet, startled, and stumbled backward so quickly that he fell over.

"Ah, ah, you should- what-" he ground out, watching the thing ram into his left foot. It stopped for a moment and then, throwing Krel for another loop, it leapt up onto his leg and scurried up it. Krel himself scurried backward, feeling unreasonably afraid of what the duckling could do to him- adult ducks themselves could be quite… fierce, he'd learned.

The duckling waddled across his stomach, causing involuntary muscle spasms and unchecked giggles on Krel's part, and them came to a stop on his chest just in front of his nose. Krel had one arm from each side of his body up like he was ready to fight, but he didn't actually know what he was going to do. The duckling sat down and made a tiny chirping noise. Krel's eyes widened and he just stared at the duckling, fascinated and still illogically terrified it might do something.

After a moment, he decided it would be best if he picked it up and set it down- it probably had a family off somewhere. Using one arm, he ever-so-gently scooped it up, to which the little duckling made a very annoyed little squeak, and put it down as quickly as he dared. As soon as it was on the ground, he scrambled to his feet and leapt back several paces. The duckling didn't move.

"Go on." Krel urged, using a hand to shoo it away. It still didn't move. "Oh, kleb, did I kill it?" He wondered aloud. It would be best if he just turned around and ran home- he had no business being out here in the first place. The duckling was probably fine. Probably…

Consciousness picking at him, Krel knelt back down again to check on the baby duck and found it was perfectly fine. It just didn't seem to want to go anywhere. He huffed to himself and stood back up, turning around as he did so.

He'd only taken two steps when he heard another quiet chirp and felt something soft crash into his ankle. He stopped walking and looked down to see the creature looking up at him

"You cannot follow me!" He whispered loudly. "You need to go!" He said. Although, looking at the tiny duck, he felt a prickle of worry that it wouldn't get home.

He leaned over to scoop it up- it kind of sounded like the duckling purred at him when he did- and turned around to start looking for a nest or a pond when it occurred to him that there wasn't a pond around for almost two miles. Either this duckling had to live in a very close nest of ducks that liked walking that far, or it was very far from home indeed. And who knew what kinds of other animals might try to attack it?

"Augh, I can't go to the pond tonight. It's too far. I'm going to put you-" He stopped to look around. There was no immediate place he could just leave this baby duck.

"Fine! You win!" He said begrudgingly. "I'll take you back to the pond tomorrow and we'll see if we can find your family." The duckling, having no idea what he said, seemed pretty content just to sit in his hands. Krel couldn't deny how soft the thing was, either… He sighed heavily and put the duckling up on his shoulder, where it immediately scooted over to lean against his neck for the warmth. Krel chuckled in spite of himself.

He walked the rest of the way home carefully, afraid the little duckling might fall off his shoulder, but it never did.

To say the least, neither Aja nor Varvatos Vex seemed very happy when he returned home with a fuzzy yellow thing on his shoulder.

* * *

I'm afraid I may not have done the idea justice- of course, I think everyone is afraid they're not keeping everyone in character or that they're not doing a good job… But I'll leave that up to you guys! What do you think of this one-shot? Did I do it justice? And what other ideas would you like to see me write for?

-LizzyLucky


	2. Aja's Sick

Oh my gosh, yes, **NightwingNinja17** , I think we all love sick fics for our main characters. If I can find the time, I want to do an individual fic for Krel, an individual fic for Aja, and another one for the both of them because I'm an absolute sucker for the stuff. Thanks for the suggestion, I'm super happy you like my stuff! I think this one will be for Aja. Then Krel, then both. (=

-LizzyLucky

* * *

Aja had been feeling weird all day. She woke up in the morning and was surprised to see that she'd slept right through her alarm. She got 20 minutes of sleep extra and she felt even more tired than if she'd gotten 20 minutes fewer.

After she'd restored her human form, she found that the smell of their breakfast (scrambled eggs with bacon) was far less appealing than usual. Still she ate, but her stomach made odd gurgling sensations after she'd eaten about a third of it and she gave up on the rest.

At school, she fell asleep in her first class, which was highly unusual. Darcy, who shared that morning's class with her, had to shake her awake for a pop quiz she couldn't remember anything about.

Then she had two other classes in which she simply couldn't pay attention. Of course, she put as much effort as she could into listening and doing her work, taking notes, studying- She did it all like on any other normal day, except that right after class, she remembered so little of what she did that she may as well have not gone.

Lunch was even worse; the cafeteria offered macaroni and cheese, which had become one of her favourite Earth meals. But as soon as she entered the cafeteria and the smell hit her, she felt really… weird. Like, not good, weird. She couldn't figure out what it was, but she decided maybe it would be best not to eat anything and so left the cafeteria. The weird sensation died down a bit, but Aja was getting really hungry. Everything she wanted to eat smelled or tasted wrong and she couldn't make herself do it.

It wasn't until math class, which she got to go to with Krel, that she started thinking something was really wrong. There wasn't even any food in the room, but her hunger and the 'weird' sensation she'd been feeling in her stomach all day lurched at her again and then suddenly seemed to matter less as her head started to hurt and all of her joints became stiff. She sat down in a desk beside Krel and had to squint at the teachers for almost 5 mekrons before realizing that there was only _one_ teacher, not three. Besides, Ms. Janeth didn't have two triblet siblings that she was aware of…

Krel, who had been watching his older sister the entire class period, had begun to get very worried. She was up half an hour later than usual, she hardly touched her breakfast, and she'd yawned probably every single time they passed each other in the hallways. Now, she was leaning forward heavily. She had large bags under her eyes and she looked like she was in another world altogether. Although, to be fair, he often daydreamed of going home too, but…

What finally set things over the edge is when Aja rested her head on her desk. She grabbed her head with one hand and groaned, and this time, Ms. Janeth noticed alongside Krel.

"... the vectors of this- Ms. Tarron, what-" Ms. Janeth cut off in the middle of teaching a new theory to the class. Aja lifted her head just enough to acknowledge Ms. Janeth, who walked over upon catching sight of her face.

"Krel, would you take your sister to the nurse's office, please?" Ms. Janeth asked, placing a gentle hand on Aja's shoulder.

Krel didn't say anything. Getting sick wasn't something that happened very often if at all on Akiridion-5. He got up, slung his and then his sister's backpacks over his shoulders, then wrapped an arm around one of Aja's.

"Come on, Aja." He beckoned. Aja hummed softly and stood up, following Krel out the classroom door like a robot. The rest of the class watched after, some concerned, but most curious.

~~~  
"Yup. Looks like just a common cold. You have developed a fairly high temperature, though. I'd suggest you go home, Aja. Krel, too. Better look after your sister, friend." The nurse said with a wink. He was a tall, lean man with messy black hair and sharp facial features but a very gentle demeanor.

"How do you even treat a cold? I can't recall either of us ever getting sick back on Akir- back in Cantaloupia." Krel said, hunching his shoulders sheepishly at his own mistake.

"Oh, it's not too hard." The man responded with a sympathetic look. "You'll want to get a bunch of fruit juices and water for hydration. There's also an acronym some people like to go by, BRAT: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. If Aja is _feeling_ sick at all, I would suggest those foods first. They're least upsetting to a sick stomach. I also find that carbonated ginger ale, which you can find on any soda and drinks aisle, makes a good stomach settler. Also most hot drinks and liquid soups. Most of all, just keep hydrated and stay in bed. Rest is very important when you're overcoming illness." He explained. Krel nodded.

"Fruit juice, water, bananas, rice, applesauce, toast, ginger ale, hot drinks, soup, hydration, bedrest... I think I've got it all. I have another friend who can help." Krel said. Stuart would know where to find all those things. At least while Aja was in her human form, they would probably help a lot. "Thank you very much." He added quietly. The man put a hand on Krel's shoulder in acknowledgement.

"Do you have someone who can come and get you?" The nurse asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'll call him. Our…" Krel paused, thinking. "Our grandfather can come get us. We have a good friend who might be able to also."

Varvatos never answered his phone. It was Stuart who came to their rescue, taco truck and all. (They later found out that Varvatos had been off playing chess and left his phone back at their mothership.)

"... I'll have to make up some herbal tea or something. You ever had that Aja? Oh, you're gonna love it! Stuff can be kinda bitter on its own, but you add a little half n' half and then some sugar or honey, maybe a touch a cinnamon, my own acquired taste… It's great! You get a sweet treat out of Earth's fruits and plants in drinkable form! _And_ I make _the best_ chicken noodle soup you will ever taste. I mean, seriously, I got this recipe off of some guy I met while I was in Mexico a few months back, and he…"

Stuart had been ranting like this since Krel mentioned that Aja was sick. Aja herself had become a bit more coherent and was clearly bored out of her mind.

"I could have stayed at school. There was only an hour and a half left." She muttered to Krel, who supported her head on his shoulder.

"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." Krel said wisely. He'd heard it somewhere, although he couldn't remember where.

"But I could have! I-" Aja tried to argue back and realized she couldn't think of a logical way to say "I should have just kept suffering through the cold."

"The school nurse said it would only last a few days at most. And apparently Stuart has a million cure-alls for the common cold, so you can probably go back tomorrow." Krel told her.

"Yeah, but I still have homework. My art project is due tomorrow, and next class hour was all I had to finish it! If we could just go back and grab it so I can work on it at home-"

"Aja, no." Krel deadpanned. "The whole point of being sent home is so that you don't do any more work. The teachers will understand." Krel told her. Aja glared at him and turned to look at the window as they were pulling into their portion of the neighborhood. Krel sighed and shook his head. Apparently Aja was more of a child when she was sick. He couldn't really judge though, he himself had rarely been sick. He didn't know what he'd be like if he were to be ill to this extent…

"Well, there you go! Just keep in mind, I'm bringing some soup for dinner for you guys, and some tea… And I guess… Just let me know if you need anything else!" Stuart said, pulling into the driveway. He chuckled in his characteristic way and opened the doors for Krel and Aja.

"Thanks, Stuart." Krel said simply, grunting as his sister unconsciously put most of her weight on him.

"No problem, kiddos! Hey, get better soon, Aja. See you guys at dinner time!" And with that, Stuart closed the doors and drove away, leaving Krel to hobble into the house and drag Aja behind him.

Finally getting her over to the couch, he let go of Aja and plopped down in a chair beside her.

"Ay-yi-yi," He said with a heavy sigh.

"I'm not _that_ heavy." Aja commented.

"You were leaning like that on purpose?!" Krel exclaimed, shooting upright and giving her an incredulous look. Aja couldn't help but to smirk before she burst into giggles.

"I have to have a little fun, Krel!" She defended. "Especially if I can't go back to school today…" She added more resentfully.

"Look, I'm sorry you can't finish your art project or play with Darcy and what's-her-name or goggle at the egocentric blond Oaf, but you can't just walk around sick. Why do you even like school that much anyway?" Krel said, trailing off at the end. Aja rolled her eyes.

"I have _friends_ , Krel." Krel didn't respond. Finally, deciding she could be more productive even in their house, Aja stood up. "I'm going to go clean my room." She said simply. She turned to walk toward her room and started coughing harshly.

"Aja!" Krel jumped over and rushed over to his sister, patting her on the back. "Sit back down." Aja, still coughing herself hoarse, shook her head and gave him a look just as she'd begun to catch her breath.

"Please?" Krel begged. Slumping her shoulders and deciding that the violent wobbling in her knees was not a good sign, Aja sat back down on the couch. She realized, suddenly, that she was still really tired. Maybe Krel was right. She needed to rest. She wanted so badly to sleep… And she wanted her head to stop hurting. It had gotten worse since they left the school, and she was all sniffly and stiff. Nothing could really be _that_ important as to-

AH! Except that she forgot she was going to train today! Without even thinking about it, she tried to stand back up and grab her serrator. Krel, suddenly feeling restlessly worried for Aja, much like a parent with their child, jumped back up again and rushed over.

"Aja!" He all but cried out. This was getting ridiculous!

Krel forcefully pushed Aja back into her spot, seeming to know exactly what she was planning to do as the next thing he did was rush to grab her serrator from her backpack and move it outside of her reach. Aja groaned at this.

"Aja, the school nurse said you have to stay in bed." Krel told her matter-of-factly as he returned.

"But there are things I need to do!" Aja argued.

"You're not well at all!" Krel countered. "Your temperature is abnormal, and you are leaking bodily fluids!" He said, shaking a finger at her. Aja scoffed.

"Those are biological symptoms." She stated. "I will be fine when I revert to Akiridion form." This time it was Krel's turn to scoff.

"No, you won't. Your 'biological symptoms' will be made energy based and won't affect you any differently."

Aja groaned loudly and let herself be pushed back until she was laying down. She knew he was right.

"Here." Krel said suddenly. She looked up to see her little brother holding up a tissue. He must have noticed how much she'd been sniffling in the last few minutes. She took it and blew, smiling in spite of herself at how caring Krel was.

"Thanks." She said reluctantly.

"Do you want some water?" Krel asked. Aja thought for a minute how nice some water would be. Her head was hurting so much, and there was nothing in her stomach. But she was worried it would bring back that same gurgling sensation.

"A little." She said finally. Krel, eager to help, got up to get her some water.

It was almost 10:00 now. Krel had spent the entire rest of the day helping Aja with whatever she needed. When Varvatos returned a few hours after Krel and Aja got back from the school, he had been appalled to discover that Aja had caught a human illness, but was willing to help nonetheless. He spent an hour getting the things Krel had been told they would need (from the BRAT synonym and the apparent need for ginger ale) and came back to find that Aja had actually fallen asleep. Krel had sarcastically told him that Aja sneezed herself to sleep.

Two hours later, Aja was up again, and hungry. She had a piece of toast before Stuart showed up around 5:30 to drop off a huge pot of soup and a slightly smaller pot of freshly made hot tea. He said it was lemon, honey, and a hint of raspberry and cinnamon. Supposedly really good for the throat and for sore muscles, which Aja claimed actually worked a little.

After dinner, Aja had insisted that Krel come sit with her on the couch under a blanket so they could watch one of the Earth's more popular animated movies, which turned into watching _two_ of Earth's biggest movies since, apparently, "How to Train Your Dragon" had a sequel. Although Aja claimed she just wanted Krel's extra body heat with the blanket, which he didn't doubt, he knew she probably actually just wanted someone to snuggle with, as she tended to do with their parents and Krel back on Akiridion-5.

About 25 minutes ago, Krel had been tucking Aja into bed. After she had settled to go to sleep, he came in with a cup of water to put on her bed-stand, an extra pillow for her head, an extra pillow for her back, and then offered a second blanket on top of the first, both of which he tucked in around her entire body so there wouldn't be any gaps for extra air to get in. Although neither Aja nor Varvatos Vex would have admitted it, they were both completely enchanted and touched by the amount of effort Krel made.

Now, even after Aja had gone to bed, Krel was still making that effort. He'd picked up probably 3 dozen tissues scattered about the floor around the couch, repackaged and put away their leftover soup and tea, and then made sure that their juices and ginger ale were in the fridge so they'd be cold in case Aja still didn't feel well tomorrow.

As he finally went to go to bed himself, he paused to sneeze. Thinking about it for all of half a second and shrugging it off, he turned off the light and went to bed.

* * *

Aw, I make myself figuratively barf at the sweetness of it all!

Actually, I really like trying to make endings sweet. I really like to imagine Krel is just the biggest sweetheart when he's taking care of his sister in any sense. I think this one was pretty neat. Although I also feel, just reading through it, that it doesn't feel very long, even though it's like, 5 pages on google drive XD Anyway, I'm thinking next, I'll do a sick-fic one-shot for Krel, yeah? Anyone looking forward to that? Also, someone else requested something to which I kind of set up for in this fic. I'm sure the requester can figure it out, but can any of you others? XD

Anywho, I would really like to know what you guys think of it! Seriously! And I would also really love some new requests! I'm quite surprised by how many I've gotten thus far, but I can't say I'm not pleased. So thank you very much everybody!

-LizzyLucky


End file.
